Kahr wants other firearms businesses to come to Pike County

Ground-breaking in Pike County for the new corporate headquarters of Kahr Firearms Group is likely in May, and a long-range plan for more gun companies is taking shape.

Comment

By BETH BRELJE

poconorecord.com

By BETH BRELJE

Posted Apr. 12, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By BETH BRELJE

Posted Apr. 12, 2014 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

Ground-breaking in Pike County for the new corporate headquarters of Kahr Firearms Group is likely in May, and a long-range plan for more gun companies is taking shape.

The gun manufacturer bought the long-empty 600-acre Pike County Business Park on Well Road in Blooming Grove for $2 million last year and will move its entire New York operation out of that state to escape what it describes as an unfriendly gun climate there.

"We would like to have a firearms-friendly business park. If other companies want to leave states with more restrictive gun laws, such as Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York, this is a great place," company spokesman Frank Harris said. "We have lots available, and we would put up buildings. Pike County is a great place with a gun-friendly environment, right off Interstate 84."

Harris said a business park filled with similar companies is a three-to-five-year goal.

Kahr Arms of Pearl River, N.Y., expects to have final permits for construction within days. Once permits are in hand, a general contractor will be hired.

Already there has been site preparation, including ground leveling and tree removal.

There has also been some excitement on the land after the Pennsylvania Game Commission discovered a bear den with a mother bear and several cubs.

The commission invited company founder Justin Moon and his family to watch as they weighed and tagged the bears. The mother bear was tranquilized. The bear den will stay in place, Harris said. The company's construction is far enough away for the bears to be comfortable.

Pike County, meanwhile, has approved the names of three gravel roads in the park.

The company has named the main road Kahr Drive and the other two roads are Tommy Gun Lane and Desert Eagle Avenue, Harris said.

Kahr Arms will bring some 100 jobs to Pike County. Some will be temporary construction, others will be administrative and manufacturing. The construction of a 40,000-square-foot facility to house both its corporate offices and a manufacturing center will happen in phases.

First, the company's corporate offices and research and development department will be moved to Pike County.

Then, in the second phase, manufacturing operations will be expanded to the Pike County location to meet an increasing demand for the Kahr Arms, Thompson, Auto-Ordnance and Magnum Research product lines.